F 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

<• 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


BIOGRAPHY 


OF 


HENRY  AUGUSTUS  PEIRCE, 


A.  L.  BANCROFT  8:  Co.,  Printers,  721  Market  St.,  San  Francisco,  18801 


NOTE. 


The  author  of  this  biographical  memoir  derived  his  knowledge 
of  the  subject  from  an  autobiography  in  manuscript,  prepared  by 
Mr.  Peirce,  with  the  intention  of  having  it  published,  a  purpose 
he  subsequently  relinquished. 

SAN  FRANCISCO,  October  i,  1880. 


HENRY  AUGUSTUS  PEIRCE. 


r  I  ^HE  early  European  ancestors  of  Mr.  Peirce  were 
doubtless  French;  the  name  in  its  diverse  forms 
of  spelling  being  early  found  in  prominence  in  French 
history.  Subsequently  the  name  is  found  in  the  fifteenth 
and  sixteenth  centuries,  associated  with  matters  of  state, 
and  in  the  army  of  Great  Britain.  John  Peirce,  a  subject 
of  the  British  king  and  a  citizen  of  London,  received  from 
the  king  of  England  the  first  patent  to  Plymouth  colony, 
dated  June  i,  1621.  The  Pilgrims  had  arrived  at  Plymouth 
in  1620,  but  no  patent  or  title  to  the  land  had  yet  been  given. 
Captain  William  Peirce,  who  commanded  the  ship  Lion, 
of  Bristol,  and  other  vessels,  brought  many  of  the  earliest 
settlers  from  England  to  Plymouth.  He  resided  in  Boston, 
and  in  1639  wrote  the  first  almanac  made  in  New  England. 
Michael  Peirce,  of  Hingham,  a  brother  of  Captain  William 
Peirce,  participated  with  Miles  Standish  in  the  Indian  wars 
in  Plymouth  colony  against  the  renowned  Indian,  King 
Philip,  and  was  distinguished  for  bravery  and  patriotism. 

Thomas  Peirce,  the  founder  of  the  Peirce  family  in  Massa 
chusetts,  came  with  his  wife  from  England  in  the  year  1634, 
and  settled  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts.  His  son,  of  the 
same  name,  settled  at  Woburn,  in  Massachusetts,  where  he 
married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Rice  Cole;  their  son  Isaac 
was  joined  in  marriage  to  Grace,  daughter  of  Lewis  Tucker, 
by  Cotton  Mather,  in  1708.  The  son  of  this  union,  also 

bo 


4  HKNKY    AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

named  Isi.ic,  born  at  Boston  in  1722,  married  Mary  Hardy, 
daughter  of  Captain  Joseph  Hardy,  of  Salem.  This  Isaac 
Peirce  and  his  wife  had  four  sons,  all  of  whom  participated 
in  the  revolutionary  war  for  the  independence  of  America  ; 
all  having  gained  distinction  for  bravery  and  patriotism. 
Joseph  Peirce,  the  eldest  of -the  four  sons  of  the  last  Isaac 
Peircc  alluded  to,  was  the  father  of  Joseph  Hardy  Peirce, 
who  was  born  at  Boston,  March  8,  1773.  Joseph  Hardy 
held  many  important  offices  in  Massachusetts,  was  secretary 
of  the  board  of  war  of  that  State  in  1812-14,  clerk  of  the 
municipal  court  of  Boston  from  1817  to  1829,  and  held  a 
commission  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts  to  Washington 
upon  national  affairs.  He  married  Frances  Temple  Cordis, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Cordis,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.  Both 
for  many  years  held  a  prominent  position  in  the  highest 
social  circles  of  Boston,  for  which  their  eminent  refinement 
and  culture  so  well  fitted  them.  Seven  sons  and  six  daughters 
were  born  to  them,  all  of  whom  lived  to  maturity,  there  being 
still  (1880)  one  son  and  three  daughters  living.  The  wife 
of  Joseph  Hardy  Peirce  died  at  Boston,  April  8,  1815,  and 
in  1819  Mr.  Peirce  married  for  his  second  wife  Abby  Robin 
son,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  There  was  no  issue  of  this 
marriage.  On  December  31,  1831,  Mr.  Peirce  and  his  wife 
Abby  embarked  on  board  the  schooner  Alabama,  at  New 
York,  for  Mobile ;  the  vessel  foundered  at  sea,  and  all  on 
board  were  lost. 

Henry  Augustus  Peirce  is  the  son  of  Joseph  Hardy  and 
Frances  Temple  Peirce,  already  alluded  to.  He  was  born  at 
Dorchester,  now  a  precinct  of  the  city  of  Boston,  on  the 
fifteenth  day  of  December,  1808.  His  youth  was  marked 
by  a  delicate  constitution  and  ill  health.  Until  his  thirteenth 
year  he  attended  the  public  schools  in  Boston ;  entering,  in 
1821,  a  private  academy  in  that  city,  where  he  spent  one 
year.  On  leaving  the  academy,  and  when  about  fourteen 
years  of  age,  the  lad  entered  his  father's  office  to  assist  in 
the  duties  of  clerk  of  the  court  in  Boston,  presided  over  by 


HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE.  5 

Judge  Thomas  Daws,  his  father's  uncle.  In  this  position, 
by  the  side  of  his  father,  he  heard  the  effective  arguments 
and  eloquence  of  many  of  the  most  distinguished  lawyers 
of  Massachusetts.  The  labor  of  copying  and  filing  papers 
soon  gave  him  a  practical  knowledge  of  business.  The 
withdrawal  from  school  at  so  early  an  age,  and  the  conse 
quent  incompleteness  of  his  education,  is  one  of  the  chief 
regrets  of  the  past  life  of  Mr.  Peirce. 

In  the  summer  of  1823,  the  father  of  Mr.  Peirce  went  to 
Washington  as  the  agent  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  for 
the  recovery  of  claims,  and  soon  was  followed  by  his  children, 
making  the  voyage  by  sea  on  board  the  ship  St.  Peter, 
amongst  whom  were  the  subject  of  this  sketch  and  his  five 
sisters,  beautiful  and  accomplished  young  ladies,  who  soon 
held  a  leading  position  in  the  fashionable  society  of  the 
capital,  the  whole  family  returning  to  their  home  in  Boston 
the  following  year,  where  Mr.  Peirce  resumed  his  duties  as 
assistant  to  his  father,  devoting,  meantime,  all  of  his  leisure 
time  to  study  and  the  reading  of  history,  voyages,  travels, 
and  the  classics.  With  increasing  manhood  came  a  strong 
desire  for  travel  in  foreign  lands.  About  this  period  (1824) 
his  brother  Marcus  T.  received  the  appointment  of  master 
of  the  brig  Griffon,  owned  by  the  eminent  mercantile  firm 
of  Bryant  &  Sturgis,  of  Boston,  to  go  upon  a  five  years 
voyage  in  the  fur  trade,  upon  the  north-west  coast  of  America, 
Pacific  ocean,  California,  Oregon,  and  Alaska.  Much  against 
the  wishes  of  many  of  his  relatives,  on  October  24,  1824,  the 
youth  of  sixteen  years  enrolled  amongst  the  ship's  crew 
of  the  Griffon,  as  a  "green  hand,"  before  the  mast,  and 
sailed  on  a  five  years  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific,  under  his 
brother,  Captain  Marcus  T.  Peirce,  for  wages  of  five  dollars 
per  month.  The  kindly  admonitions  and  prayers  of  a  de 
voted  father,  in  a  most  tender  letter,  handed  to  the  boy  as  he 
embarked,  with  a  goodly  supply  of  suitable  books  upon  the 
subjects  of  navigation  and  voyages,  added  hope -and  lent 
consolation  in  the  long  days  and  stormy  nights  upon  the 


0  HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

ocean.  Out  of  a  list  of  seventeen,  officers  and  crew  of  the 
Griffon,  Mr.  Peircc  is  now  the  sole  survivor  (1880).  After 
recovery  from  lacerated  hands,  incident  to  the  trials  of  going 
aloft,  and  becoming  accustomed  to  the  hard  fare  and  rigid 
discipline  of  routine  sailor  drudgery,  the  voyage  became  not 
distasteful,  and  the  good  brig  Griffon,  in  five  months  from 
the  day  of  departure  from  Boston,  arrived  at  the  port  of  Hon 
olulu,  Hawaiian  islands,  March  25,  1825.  The  thatch-huts, 
tropical  verdure,  and  nude  natives  presented  a  new  and  fasci 
nating  field  of  observation  for  the  sailor  boy,  who,  after  his 
five  months'  practical  navigation  and  close  study,  had  ac 
quired  sufficient  nautical  skill  to  enable  him  to  navigate  a 
vessel  anywhere.  Letters  of  introduction  from  prominent 
persons  in  Boston  to  members  of  the  American  Missionary 
Board  at  Honolulu,  gave  the  youth  most  agreeable  recogni 
tion  in  the  new  and  wonderful  country.  On  leaving  Honolulu, 
after  a  few  days'  stay  in  that  port,  the  lad  was  promoted  to 
"  ship's  clerk,"  and  was  transferred  from  the  forecastle  to  the 
cabin,  in  charge  of  the  stores  and  goods  for  trade  with  the 
natives.  The  Griffon  in  due  time  arrived  off  the  coast 
of  British  Columbia,  then  known  as  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com 
pany's  territory,  and  made  her  first  land  after  leaving  Honolulu 
by  entering  the  harbor  of  Chatsena,  in  Prince  of  Wales  island, 
on  the  west  side  of  Clarence's  straits.  Here  an  active  trade 
was  carried  on  with  the  natives,  who  in  great  numbers  visited 
the  vessel,  exchanging  furs  for  articles  of  commerce.  For 
three  and  a  half  years  the  Griffon  continued  her  trading 
voyage,  visiting  nearly  all  the  harbors,  islands,  and  straits 
along  the  coast  of  British  Columbia  and  Alaska,  between 
the  degrees  of  fifty-two  and  fifty-seven  north  latitude. 

During  the  extended  voyage  upon  the  north-west  coast, 
young  Peirce  had  made  careful  observation  and  study  of  the 
natives,  natural  resources,  climate,  and  temperature  of  the 
country  visited,  and  of  the  waters  navigated,  an  elaborate 
record  of  which  he  subsequently  submitted  to  Commander 
Maury,  of  the  hydrographic  bureau  of  the  United  States 


HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE.  7 

navy,  at  Washington,  from  which  record  emanated  the  re 
search  subsequently  made  on  behalf  of  the  government  in 
relation  to  a  warm  ocean  current  flowing  from  the  China 
sea  and  the  islands  of  Japan,  to  and  along  the  west  coast  of 
America. 

During  the  stay  of  the  Griffon  upon  the  north-west  coast, 
many  startling  events  transpired  in  trading  with  the  Indian 
tribes,  but  no  serious  results  ensued.  The  objects  of  the  trad 
ing  voyage  having  been  attained,  the  Griffon,  in  September, 
1828,  sailed  from  the  harbor  of  Tungas,  on  the  coast  of 
Alaska,  for  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  where  she  arrived  in 
October  following,  anchoring  off  the  Presidio,  a  small  Span 
ish  fortification.  Besides  the  Griffon,  there  was  but  another 
vessel  in  port — the  brig  Vulture,  Captain  Henry  D.  Fitch ; 
no  inhabitants  were  to  be  found,  except  a  few  at  the  Presidio 
and  at  the  Mission  Dolores ;  not  even  a  hut  existed  at  Yerba 
Buena,  where  now  stands  the  city  of  San  Francisco.  After 
a  stay  of  a  week  in  port,  the  Griffon  hoisted  sail  for  Hono 
lulu,  where  all  arrived  safe  after  ten  or  twelve  days'  voyage. 
Captain  Peirce  having  left  the  Griffon  at  this  port  and  gone 
home,  young  Peirce  declined  to  go  with  the  vessel  upon  her 
continued  voyage  of  another  year  on  the  north-west  coast, 
and  instead  entered  upon  a  clerkship  in  the  mercantile  house 
of  James  Hunnewell,  formerly  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  resid 
ing  at  Honolulu,  where  he  remained  until  the  fall  of  1830, 
when  Mr.  Hunnewell  returned  home,  young  Peirce  continu 
ing  the  business  upon  his  own  account  for  many  years,  with 
great  profit. 

In  February,  1834,  the  young  merchant  chartered  from 
King  Kamehameha  III.  the  brig  Becket,  built  at  Salem,  Mass., 
more  than  twenty  years  previously,  and  loading  her  with 
sandal  wood  and  other  material,  sailed  for  China,  to  procure 
a  cargo  of  merchandise  suitable  for  trade  in  the  Russian  set 
tlements  in  Kamtchatka  and  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  After 
a  voyage  of  fifty  days,  young  Peirce  arrived  at  Lintin,  and  at 
Canton  purchased  his  cargo  of  merchandise,  and  in  May  fol- 


8  HENRY   AUGUSTUS  PEIRCE. 

lowing  left  the  Chinese  coast  for  Kamtchatka,  arriving  at  St. 
Peters  and  St.  Pauls  harbor  early  in  the  month  of  June. 
Here  he  sold  a  portion  of  the  cargo,  taking  paper  roubles  in 
exchange.  Young  Peirce  and  his  associates  celebrated  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1834,  by  giving  to  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Peters 
and  St.  Pauls  a  grand  party  on  board  of  his  vessel.  After  a 
stay  of  two  months  in  Russian  waters,  the  Becket  proceeded 
to  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  where  she  arrived  after  a  tedious 
voyage. 

At  Honolulu,  in  the  spring  of  1835,  young  Peirce  purchased 
the  ship  Rasselas,  and  dispatched  her  upon  a  voyage  of  traffic 
similar  to  that  of  the  Becket.  This  last  venture  not  proving 
remunerative,  this  line  of  business  was  abandoned,  and  in 
December,  1835,  a  copartnership  was  formed  by  young  Peirce 
and  Captain  Charles  Brewer,  who  had  commanded  Peirce's 
vessels  upon  their  voyages  to  China  and  the  Russian  posses 
sions.  Under  this  partnership  the  firm  of  Peirce  &  Brewer 
conducted  a  general  merchandise  and  commission  business 
at  Honolulu  until  the  year  1843,  when  Mr.  Peirce  retired  with 
an  accumulation  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

In  February,  1 836,  after  the  establishment  of  the  partner 
ship  of  Peirce  &  Brewer,  Mr.  Peirce  sailed  on  board  the  firm's 
schooner  Kamele  for  the  port  of  Macao,  China,  where,  after 
dispatching  the  Kamele  with  a  cargo  of  Chinese  goods  to  the 
firm  at  Honolulu,  Mr.  Peirce  embarked  on  board  the  ship 
Walter  Scott,  for  New  York,  arriving  at  that  port  in  October 
following,  after  a  passage  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  days.  This 
was  Mr.  Peirce's  first  return  to  his  native  land  since  his  de 
parture  from  Boston  harbor,  on  board  the  Griffon,  in  1824; 
for  at  the  period  of  his  visit  to  California  it  was  Spanish 
territory.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival  he  proceeded  to  Bos 
ton,  to  the  loving  associations  of  his  relatives.  After  a  brief 
sojourn  at  his  old  home,  he  accepted  a  consignment  of  the 
brig  Peru,  carrying  twelve  guns,  and  embarked  on  board  of 
her  at  Boston,  on  the  nineteenth  of  January,  1837,  for  Hono 
lulu,  putting  into  St.  Catherines,  Brazil,  for  repairs,  after  a 


HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE.  9 

run  of  thirty-six  days  in  the  Atlantic.  After  a  most  boister 
ous  passage  round  Cape  Horn,  the  Peril  arrived  at  Valparaiso 
in  a  hundred  and  twenty  days  from  Boston,  departing  in  a 
few  days  for  Callao,  Peru.  At  this  time  war  existed  between 
Chile  and  Peru,  and  young  Peirce,  in  conformity  with  instruc 
tions  from  the  owners  of  the  brig  Peru,  made  great  effort  to 
sell  the  vessel  to  either  government,  but  without  success. 

While  at  Lima,  General  Santa  Cruz,  Protector  of  Peru  and 
Bolivia,  then  in  supreme  command,  appointed  Mr.  Peirce 
Peruvian  Consul  at  Honolulu,  which  position  he  held  until 
1841,  when  the  brig  Peru,  with  Mr.  Peirce  and  some  mis 
sionary  passengers  from  Boston,  bound  for  Oregon,  arrived 
in  the  month  of  July,  1837.  After  the  arrival  of  the  brig 
Peru  at  Honolulu,  she  was  engaged  in  running  between  the 
principal  islands  of  the  Hawaiian  group  until  November,  1837, 
when  she,  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Peirce,  sailed  for  Val 
paraiso,  with  a  view  of  the  sale  of  the  vessel,  touching  at 
the  port  of  Papeete,  in  the  island  of  Tahiti,  one  of  the  Society 
group,  where  a  few  days  were  spent  in  observing  the  beauties 
and  wonders  of  that  delightful  tropical  region.  Soon  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Peru  at  Valparaiso  she  was  sold  by  Mr. 
Peirce  for  the  owners ;  her  price  was  taken  in  pig  copper 
and  shipped  to  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Peirce  having  completed  the  sale  of  the  brig  Peru,  he 
now  entered  upon  a  journey  overland  across  South  America, 
from  Valparaiso  to  Buenos  Ayres,  crossing  the  Cordilleras 
and  the  pampas  on  his  way  to  the  Atlantic.  He  left  the  city 
of  Valparaiso  upon  this  journey  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  Jan 
uary,  1838,  in  company  with  a  few  others,  traveling  a  portion 
of  the  time  in  a  one-horse  chaise,  and  upon  horseback,  ac 
companied  by  spare  horses,  mules,  a  capitan,  and  postilions. 
The  grandeur  of  the  snow-capped  mountains  and  the  verdure 
of  the  expansive  valleys  lent  a  charm  to  this  most  inter 
esting  journey.  At  Santiago,  and  all  places  of  importance 
on  the  route,  all  public  institutions  and  places  of  interest  or 
curiosity  were  visited.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  seventeenth 


10  MKNRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

of  March,  1838,  Mr.  Peircc  and  his  companions  entered  the 
city  of  Huenos  Ayrcs,  which  rests  upon  a  wide  plain.  Re 
maining  in  the  city  of  Huenos  Ayres  two  or  three  weeks, 
Mr.  Peirce  embarked  for  New  York  on  board  the  bark 
Drymo,  arriving  at  his  destination  in  the  early  part  of  June, 
and  in  a  few  days  proceeded  to  his  old  home  in  Boston,  and 
was,  on  the  third  day  of  July,  1838,  united  in  marriage  with 
Miss  Susan  R.  Thompson,  eldest  daughter  of  the  late  Joseph 
Thompson,  of  that  part  of  Boston  called  Charlestown,  Rev. 
Dr.  James  Walker  officiating.  Mr.  Peirce  remained  in  Boston 
until  April  21,  1839,  when  he,  as  part  owner  and  as  com 
mander  of  the  schooner  Morse,  purchased  at  Boston,  and 
laden  with  merchandise  for  the  firm  of  Peirce  &  Brewer, 
of  Honolulu,  sailed  for  the  latter  port  by  way  of  Magellan 
straits  and  Valparaiso.  On  the  nineteenth  of  July,  after  a 
three  months  voyage  from  Boston,  the  Morse  entered  the 
straits  of  Magellan,  and  after  a  most  stormy  and  dangerous 
passage  of  thirty-two  days  of  the  straits,  emerged  into  the 
Pacific  ocean,  on  the  twentieth  of  August,  arriving  at  Val 
paraiso  in  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  from  Boston.  Having 
spent  a  few  days  in  this  port,  he  sailed  for  Honolulu,  where 
the  Morse  arrived  on  the  nineteenth  of  October,  1839,  in 
forty-five  days  from  Valparaiso,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty 
days  from  Boston.  During  all  of  this  period  the  business 
of  Mr.  Peirce,  under  the  firm  of  Peirce  &  Brewer,  was  going 
on  at  Honolulu.  But  the  ill  health  of  Mr.  Peirce  compelled 
him  to  seek  a  change  of  climate.  With  this  view,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  transacting  some  business  for  the  firm  on  the 
coast  of  California,  the  firm  of  Peirce  &  Brewer  purchased 
the  brig  Maryland,  and  Mr.  Peirce,  in  November,  1841,  took 
command  of  her  and  sailed  from  the  port  of  Honolulu, 
reaching  the  south  Farallones,  off  the  Golden  Gate,  in  seven 
teen  days.  The  wind  blowing  a  gale  from  the  north,  he 
concluded  not  to  venture  a  passage  into  the  bay  of  San 
Francisco,  and  headed  the  Maryland  for  Monterey,  the  then 
capital  of  the  Mexican  territory  of  Alta  California,  where  he 


HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE.  II 

arrived  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  November.  Anxious  to  visit 
San  Francisco,  Mr.  Peirce  embarked  on  board  the  Mexican 
brig  Catalina,  at  Monterey,  and  arrived  at  Yerba  Buena 
November  30,  1841,  thirteen  years  having  elapsed  since  his 
previous  arrival  in  October,  1828.  But  five  or  six  huts  or 
houses  now  stood  at  Yerba  Buena,  where  not  one  stood 
upon  his  visit  in  1828.  Here  Mr.  Peirce  learned  that  a 
United  States  exploring  expedition,  under  the  command 
of  Captain  Wilkes,  had  recently  visited  the  place  and  had 
surveyed  the  bay  of  San  Francisco  and  the  Sacramento  river, 
and  that  Governor  Alvarado  had  caused  a  survey  to  be  made 
of  the  pueblo  of  Yerba  Buena,  and  that  fifty  and  one-hundred 
vara  lots  could  be  had  at  twenty  to  thirty  dollars.  Mr.  Peirce, 
not  doubting  the  future  greatness  of  California,  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  invest  or  remain.  A  few  extracts  from  a  letter 
written  to  his  friend,  Thomas  Cummins,  at  Honolulu,  on 
board  the  brig  Maryland,  on  February  i,  1842,  after  leaving 
California,  will  best  convey  Mr.  Peirce's  conceptions  regard 
ing  the  then  remote  Spanish  colony.  He  says : 

"  I  made  many  notes  in  respect  to  California.  From  ,San  Diego 
to  Bodega  it  possesses  the  richest  land  and  the  most  salubrious  and 
healthful  climate  of  any  country  that  I  am  acquainted  with;  in 
climate  and  productions  it  bears  a  near  resemblance  to  the  south  of 
Spain.  It  produces  the  grape,  olive,  fig,  orange,  lemon,  pome 
granate,  and  other  tropical  fruits.  Cotton,  silk,  and  the  sugar  cane 
can  be  grown.  The  northern  parts  of  California  possess  the  finest 
wheat  and  grazing  lands  your  eyes  ever  beheld.  *  *  *  In  spring, 
here  Nature  puts  on  her  brightest  robes;  the  whole  country  is  one 
vast  bed  of  flowers,  delightful  to  the  eye  and  pleasing  to  the  senses. 
In  my  opinion  California  will  become,  in  its  future  history,  a  second 
Texas.  Emigration  from  Missouri  and  New  Mexico  is  rapidly 
taking  place.  *  *  *  All  are  pleased  with  the  lands  and  the 
climate.  *  *  *  The  country  is  overrun  with  immense  quantities 
of  game  of  all  kinds,  geese,  ducks,  deer,  etc.  I  have  not  a  doubt, 
from  what  I  have  seen  and  know,  that  in  less  than  six  years  more 
thnn  fifteen  thousand  persons  will  have  emigrated  to  California  from 


12  HF.NRV    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE. 

the  Western  and  North-western  States;  when  that  time  comes,  we 
shall,  I  hope,  see  the  country  governed  by  our  own  enlightened  laws, 
and  the  people  speaking  our  own  language;  and  should  that  time 
arrive,  as  I  expect,  when  these  things  are  to  happen,  I  shall  feel  a 
strong  disposition  to  come  out  and  settle  there  myself." 

Having  at  this  time  visited  may  points  north  of  the  bay  of 
San  Francisco,  and  taken  copious  notes  of  the  region,  Mr. 
Peirce  left  Yerba  Buena  on  board  the  Don  Quixote,  of 
Hawaii,  for  Monterey,  where  he  again  took  command  of  his 
vessel,  the  brig  Maryland,  on  January  3,  1842,  arriving  at 
Santa  Barbara  three  days  later.  Leaving  Santa  Barbara,  the 
Maryland  sailed  for  San  Diego,  where  she  arrived  on  the 
eighteenth  of  January;  where,  after  remaining  a  few  days, 
she  sailed  for  Mazatlan,  Mexico,  where  she  arrived  on  the 
fourth  of  February,  1842.  Mr.  Peirce  had,  in  all  his  stopping- 
places  along  the  coast,  traded  for  hides,  furs,  and  other 
articles,  and,  on  arriving  at  Mazatlan,  disposed  of  the  Mary 
land,  sending  her  to  Honolulu  in  charge  of  his  mate,  to 
be  delivered  to  her  purchasers.  Mr.  Peirce  in  a  few  days 
embarked  on  board  the  schooner  Victoria,  for  San  Bias, 
where  he  arrived  three  days  later,  and  departed  upon  a 
journey  overland,  across  Mexico  to  the  Atlantic,  on  his 
homeward  travels  passing  through  Guanajuata,  Queretaro, 
and  many  other  places  of  importance,  and  on  the  first  day 
of  March,  1842,  arrived  in  the  city  of  Mexico,  where  pleas 
ant  intercourse  with  the  leading  officials  and  the  American 
minister,  with  observations  of  the  many  objects  of  interest 
to  a  stranger,  occupied  four  days,  leaving  the  city  of  Mex 
ico  on  the  fourth  of  March  for  Vera  Cruz.  Arriving  at 
the  latter  city,  Mr.  Peirce  embarked  on  board  the  French 
ship  Atlantic,  for  Matanzas,  Cuba,  arriving  at  the  latter  place 
after  a  voyage  of  twenty-two  days.  From  Matanzas  Mr. 
Peirce  went  to  Havana,  from  whence  in  a  few  days  he  took 
passage  on  board  a  schooner  bound  to  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  From  Charleston  he  took  steamer  to  Wilmington, 
North  Carolina,  and  from  thence  by  land  to  the  city  of 


HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE.  13 

Washington,  where  he  visited  Daniel  Webster,  Secretary  of 
State,  urging  upon  him  action  upon  the  matter  of  Ameri 
cans  whom  upon  his  (Peirce's)  travels  he  found  prisoners  in 
Mexico  for  supposed  political  offenses.  At  this  interview 
Mr.  Peirce  imparted  much  information  to  the  distinguished 
secretary,  in  relation  to  the  territory  of  California,  and  inti 
mated  that  "  in  the  fitness  of  things,  we  must  have  Califor 
nia."  To  which  Mr.  Webster  replied:  "  Well,  sir,  if  we  must, 
we  probably  will!"  After  a  brief  sojourn  in  Washington, 
Mr.  Peirce  proceeded  on  to  his  old  home  in  Boston  and 
joined  his  family,  after  an  absence  of  three  years.  During 
all  of  the  years  from  1842  to  1849  Mr.  Peirce  was  largely  en 
gaged  in  commerce  and  in  foreign  trade  in  Boston,  being  a 
ship-owner  and  trading  with  Hawaii  and  the  Society  Islands, 
Kamtchatka,  China,  and  Manila.  In  1847  he  chartered  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States  the  ship  Charles,  to 
carry  a  cargo  of  provisions  to  Monterey,  California,  for  the 
United  States  forces  there.  Mr.  Peirce,  in  the  midst  of  an 
active  commercial  life,  left  Boston  in  1844,  on  a  visit  to 
Europe,  visiting  London,  Paris,  and  other  great  cities. 

News  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  having  reached 
Boston  in  the  fall  of  1848,  Mr.  Peirce,  in  connection  with 
James  Hunnewell,  of  Boston,  fitted  out  the  ship  Montreal 
with  a  cargo  of  merchandise  for  San  Francisco,  the  vessel 
sailing  on  the  nineteenth  of  January,  1849,  with  Mr.  Peirce 
as  supercargo.  Fleets  of  vessels  were  now  on  the  way  from 
all  quarters  of  the  globe,  bound  for  San  Francisco.  The 
Montreal  arrived  at  Valparaiso  in  ninety  days  from  Boston. 
Here  Mr.  Peirce's  business  sagacity  induced  him  to  sell  at 
high  figures  most  of  the  cargo  of  his  ship,  to  be  delivered  at 
San  Francisco.  The  vessel,  on  leaving  Valparaiso,  pro 
ceeded  to  Honolulu,  where,  discharging  a  portion  of  her 
cargo,  she  sailed  for  San  Francisco,  where  she  arrived  in 
July,  1849.  At  this  period  more  than  two  hundred  vessels  of 
different  nations  lay  in  the  bay  of  San  Francisco.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  Montreal,  her  entire  crew  deserted  her  and  de- 


14  HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE. 

parted  for  the  mines,  leaving  Mr.  Peirce  and  the  captain 
alone.  In  September,  1849,  Mr.  Peirce,  on  board  the 
Montreal,  sailed  out  of  the  Golden  Gate  for  Honolulu,  from 
whence  he  dispatched  her  soon  after  with  a  cargo  of  oil  and 
whalebone  to  New  Bedford,  and  in  November  following  he 
embarked  on  board  the  brig  Noble,  chartered  by  him  at 
Honolulu,  and  sailed  for  Canton,  China,  for  a  cargo  of  gen 
eral  merchandise  for  the  Hawaiian  trade.  The  vessel  on  her 
voyage  touched  at  the  island  of  Kauai,  the  most  western  of 
the  Hawaiian  archipelago,  where,  near  the  harbor  of  Nawili- 
wili,  he  purchased,  in  connection  with  the  late  William  L. 
Lee,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom,  a  sugar  planta 
tion  of  three  thousand  acres,  leaving  competent  parties  in 
charge,  and  proceeding  on  to  China.  This  sugar  enterprise 
resulted  most  disastrously  as  a  speculation.  On  Christmas, 

1849,  the  Noble,  with  Mr.  Peirce,  arrived  at  Hongkong.     On 
the  following  day  Mr.  Peirce  took  passage  upon  an  English 
steamer  for  the  city  of  Canton.     In  due  time  the  Noble  re 
turned  to  Honolulu  with  her  cargo,  which  was  sold  at  great 
profit  to  those  concerned. 

Always  active  and  keen  for  speculation,  Mr.  Peirce,  seeing 
the  opening  for  Chinese  goods  in  San  Francisco,  communi 
cated  his  views  to  the  firm  of  Russell  &  Co.,  who  dispatched 
the  brig  Eagle  for  San  Francisco,  laden  with  Chinese  goods; 
in  this  venture,  Mr.  Peirce  had  a  quarter  interest.  The  goods 
sold  at  San  Francisco  at  a  satisfactory  profit.  After  settling 
his  business  at  Canton,  Mr.  Peirce  sailed  on  board  the  ship 
Oriental  for  New  York  city,  where  he  arrived  after  a  passage 
of  eighty-three  days,  arriving  a  few  days  thereafter,  in  April, 

1850,  at   his  home  in    Boston,  having   circumnavigated  the 
globe  in  the  last  fifteen  months  of  his  absence,  and  returned 
to  the  happy  circle  of  his  wife  and  two  children,  crowned 
with  financial  success. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Peirce's  return  from  China  to  Boston,  he, 
with  James  Hunnewell  and  Charles  Brewer,  with  their  united 
capital,  entered  upon  a  partnership  for  commercial  voyages 


HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PE1RCE.  1 5 

from  Boston  to  Honolulu  and  San  Francisco.  This  associa 
tion  lasted  for  four  years,  during  which  more  than  half  a 
million  dollars  were  constantly  employed,  and  a  fleet  of  ships 
engaged,  traversing  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans,  and 
bringing  increasing  wealth  to  their  enterprising  owners,  a 
loss  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  in  the  fire  at  San  Francisco  of 
May  4,  1851,  on  goods  in  the  hands  of  their  agents,  being 
the  only  loss  of  consequence  sustained. 

For  the  period  from  1850  to  1861  Mr.  Peirce  was  a  promi 
nent  and  prosperous  merchant  and  ship-owner  of  Boston,  and 
from  1852,  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years,  he  resided  with  his 
wife  and  two  children  at  their  elegant  residence,  No.  46  Bea 
con  street,  Boston,  purchased  from  his  uncle,  Thomas  Cordis, 
esq.,  where  he  enjoyed  all  the  social  pleasures  of  the  most 
refined  society  of  that  city.  During  the  period  from  1856  to 
1869  he  was  consul  for  the  Hawaiian  kingdom  at  the  ports  of 
Boston,  Mass.,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  Portland,  Me. 

In  the  year  1857,  Mr.  Peirce  dispatched  the  bark  Messenger 
Bird  with  a  cargo  of  merchandise  to  the  Russian  settlements 
at  the  Amoor  river.  The  commencement  of  the  civil  war,  in 
1861,  found  Mr.  Peirce  with  a  fleet  of  ships  scattered  in  peace 
ful  commerce  upon  every  sea.  The  subsequent  disasters  to 
this  class  of  property  seriously  affected  his  financial  affairs ; 
following  in  the  wake  of  which  came  the  robbery  of  fourteen 
thousand  dollars  from  a  bank  by  a  confidential .  clerk,  and 
forgeries  to  the  extent  of  an  additional  forty  thousand  dollars. 
But  neither  the  spirit  nor  the  integrity  of  the  shrewd  mer 
chant,  trader,  and  navigator  was  shaken,  but  with  active  patri 
otic  zeal  he  entered  upon  aiding  his  afflicted  country,  devoting 
his  time  and  means  to  the  cause  of  her  preservation,  assisting 
in  recruiting  and  sending  into  the  field  from  Boston,  regiments 
of  soldiers,  among  which  may  be  named  the  ninth,  four 
teenth,  twelfth,  and  the  fifty-third  and  fifty-fourth  colored, 
co-operating  actively  with  Governor  Andrews  and  other  patri 
ots  of  Massachusetts. 

After  the  capture  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1865, 


1 6  HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

Mr.  Peirce,  having  obtained  a  permit  from  the  secretary  of 
war,  in  company  with  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Henry  Ward 
Bcecher,  Theodore  Tilton,  and  George  Thompson,  the  famous 
English  abolitionist,  visited  Tort  Royal  and  Fort  Sumter. 
While  at  Port  Royal  Mr.  Peirce  was  the  guest  of  his  old 
friend,  Admiral  William  Reynolds,  whom  he  had  known  at 
Honolulu  in  1840.  This  was  upon  the  fourteenth  day  of 
April,  1865,  just  four  years  after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sum 
ter,  and  the  occasion  upon  which  General  Anderson  hoisted 
over  the  retaken  fort  the  flag  of  his  country,  which  he  had 
been  compelled  to  lower  on  the  fourteenth  of  April,  1861. 

On  the  return  of  Mr.  Peirce  and  his  patriotic  associates 
next  day  (April  15,  1861)  to  Port  Royal,  they  learned  the  sad 
news  of  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln.  Returning 
to  New  York  city  on  the  Sua  Nada,  in  a  few  days  Mr.  Peirce 
witnessed  the  solemn  funeral  procession  bearing  the  remains 
of  President  Lincoln  to  their  resting-place  at  Springfield,  Illi 
nois. 

The  adversity  of  war  and  the  almost  total  destruction  of 
shipping,  incident  to  rebel  pirates,  left  Mr.  Peirce,  in  1866, 
deprived  of  the  greater  part  of  his  large  fortune,  secured  by 
long  years  of  close  application,  shrewd  speculation,  and  ex 
tensive  voyages  to  almost  every  portion  of  the  mercantile 
world.  Despairing  of  recovery  in  his  past  line  of  pursuits, 
and  anxious  to  demonstrate  the  practicability  of  the  free 
labor  of  the  emancipated  colored  people  of  the  South,  he,  in 
company  with  his  old  friends  R.  B.  Forbes  and  John  P. 
Gushing,  of  Boston,  purchased  the  Scotland  plantation,  on 
the  Big  Black  river,  Yazoo  county,  Mississippi,  paying  thirty- 
five  thousand  dollars  for  the  plantation  and  all  its  improve 
ments  and  live  stock.  The  freedmen  were  hired,  and,  under 
skilled  superintendents,  employed  in  raising  cotton;  but, 
owing  to  defective  levees,  unusual  climatic  changes,  and 
other  causes,  at  the  close  of  the  season,  after  an  expenditure 
of  ninety  thousand  dollars,  this  agricultural  venture  yielded 
ninety-two  bales  of  cotton,  which  sold  for  five  thousand  dol- 


HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE.  I? 

lars.  At  this  time  social  disorder  reigned  supreme  in  Yazoo 
county  and  vicinity.  Between  the  disastrous  cotton  specula 
tion  and  the  nightly  raids  of  "jayhawkers "  and  "bush 
whackers,"  upon  the  horses  and  mules  of  the  plantation,  little 
remained  to  induce  Mr.  Peirce  to  expedite  a  sale  of  his  most 
unremunerative  agricultural  property.  Intent  upon  release  at 
any  sacrifice  from  his  Yazoo  cotton  plantation,  Mr,  Peirce 
visited  New  Orleans  and  found  a  purchaser  for  his  property, 
at  a  clear  loss  of  forty-nine  thousand  dollars.  The  addition 
of  this  misfortune  to  the  great  depression  of  the  shipping  in 
terests  began  to  melt  from  sight  the  accumulations  of  all  his 
past  success,  and  Fortune  in  her  most  fickle  moods  seemed  to 
thwart  his  every  effort.  The  elegant  mansion  at  46  Beacon 
street,  Boston,  so  long  the  happy  home  of  his  family  and  the 
center  of  social  refinement,  was  sold,  realizing  eighty-five 
thousand  dollars,  with  a  portion  of  which  all  demands  against 
Mr.  Peirce  were  paid  off,  the  balance  being  invested  in  a  more 
unpretentious  residence  on  Chestnut  street,  in  the  rear  of 
Beacon  street.  Through  every  phase  of  these  unforeseen 
disasters,  the  moral  integrity  of  Mr.  Peirce,  and  the  purity  of 
his  motives  in  all  commercial  and  business  transactions,  have 
never  suffered  a  shadow  of  doubt  or  reproach  to  rest  upon 
them. 

Mr.  Peirce,  now  out  of  business,  and  residing  with  his 
family  in  their  retired  home  in  Boston,  having,  in  May, 
1869,  received  a  commission  from  the  State  department  at 
Washington,  as  minister  resident  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
once  more  directed  his  steps  toward  the  far  Pacific,  the  early 
scenes  of  his  youthful  activity  and  commercial  success,  and 
on  June  7,  1869,  left  Boston  by  the  overland  railroad  for  San 
Francisco,  en  route  for  Honolulu,  arriving  at  the  former  place 
on  June  15,  1869,  twenty  years  having  elapsed  since  his  last 
visit  to  that  city  (1849),  and  more  than  forty  years  since  his 
first  visit  in  1828,  during  which  time  a  great  commercial  city 
had  arisen  upon  the  sands  of  Yerba  Buena,  more  than  fulfill 
ing  his  predictions  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  before.  During 


1 8  HKNRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

Mr.  Peirce's  stay  of  a  fortnight  in  San  Francisco,  he  studied 
carefully  the  commercial  advantages  and  requirements  of  the 
city,  and  its  relative  commercial  importance  in  relation  to 
trade  with  Hawaii  and  the  Orient. 

Vested  with  the  diplomatic  authority  of  minister  of  the 
United  States,  Mr.  Peirce  left  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco  on 
board  the  American  ship  Rival  for  Honolulu,  where,  on  the 
twenty-fifth  of  March,  1825,  he  had  first  landed  as  a  sailor 
boy  on  board  of  the  brig  Griffon,  and  where  he  had  spent  so 
many  subsequent  years  in  active  commercial  and  friendly  re 
lationship  with  the  people.  On  the  sixteenth  of  July,  1869, 
on  his  arrival  at  Honolulu,  he  was  received  with  the  warmest 
demonstrations  by  the  inhabitants,  who  gave  him  a  hearty 
welcome  to  the  scene  of  his  early  commercial  prosperity. 
On  the  nineteenth  of  July,  1869,  the  new  minister  to  Hawaii 
was  granted  an  official  audience  with  King  Kamehameha  V., 
to  whom  he  presented  his  credentials  to  the  Hawaiian  court, 
which  were  received  by  the  king  with  marked  declarations  of 
personal  regard  for  the  newly-appointed  representative  of  the 
American  Republic — the  old  and  esteemed  friend  of  the 
king's  predecessors  and  people. 

During  the  period  of  Minister  Peirce's  residence  at  Hono 
lulu,  from  July,  1869,  to  September,  1877,  he  exerted  not 
only  upon  the  commercial  relations  of  Hawaii  and  the  United 
States  most  beneficial  influence,  but,  through  his  far-seeing 
and  energetic  efforts,  brought  the  two  nations  into  close  and 
friendly  diplomatic  intercourse,  binding  the  people  and  gov 
ernments  and  commerce  in  mutual  reciprocal  relations,  such 
as  only  could  have  been  comprehended  and  accomplished  by 
such  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  both  governments  and 
people  as  had  been  acquired  by  years  of  active  and  friendly 
intercourse  with  the  government  and  people  of  Hawaii. 

The  active  and  efficient  efforts  of  Minister  Peirce  in  his 
official  duties  with  the  State  department  at  Washington,  and 
his  prompt  aid  and  attentions  to  his  countrymen  in  distress 
upon  the  Pacific  islands,  received  the  heartiest  expressions  of 


HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE.  1 9 

recognition  and  commendation  from  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  During  the  residence  of  Mr.  Peirce  as  minis 
ter  of  the  United  States  at  Honolulu,  he  witnessed  many  im 
portant  changes  in  the  government  and  affairs  of  Hawaii. 
The  death  of  King  Kamehameha  V.  on  the  eleventh  day  of 
December,  1872,  ended  the  reign  of  the  line  of  that  king's 
predecessors,  he  being  the  last  of  his  race  in  descent  from 
the  great  Kamehameha  I.  He  died  without  naming  his  suc- 
cessoi.  The  assembly  at  Honolulu,  on  February  6,  1873, 
elected  Prince  William  Lunalilo  king.  His  reign  ended 
within  a  year;  he  died  on  the  third  of  February,  1874.  He 
also  declining  to  nominate  his  successor,  on  the  twelfth  day 
of  February,  1874,  the  assembly  of  Hawaii  elected  Kalakaua 
king.  At  the  announcement  of  his  election  the  populace 
arose,  and  entering  the  council  chamber,  dispersed  the  assem 
bly,  gutting  all  the  government  offices,  and  inaugurated  a 
reign  of  general  destruction  and  slaughter.  The  native  po 
lice  and  authorities  seemed  powerless.  But  the  vigilant 
American  minister,  who  had  anticipated  trouble,  and  had 
been  invited  into  the  chamber  to  witness  the  voting,  had  cau 
tiously  placed  under  arms  the  marines  on  board  the  United 
States  frigates  Titscarora  and  Portsmouth,  lying  in  the  har 
bor,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  after  the  riotous  demonstration 
in  the  assembly,  Mr.  Peirce  brought  one  hundred  and  fifty 
armed  Americans  into  the  assembly  chamber,  and  put  to 
flight  the  rioters  and  restored  order,  retaining,  at  the  solicita 
tion  of  the  officials  of  the  government,  his  marines  for  a 
period  of  seven  days  in  protecting  life  and  property.  For 
these  acts  Mr.  Peirce  received  the  thanks  of  the  king  and  his 
government. 

The  government  at  Washington  having  extended  an  invi 
tation  and  transportation  to  King  Kalakaua,  of  Hawaii,  and 
placing  the  United  States  steamer  Benicia,  then  at  Honolulu, 
at  the  disposal  of  the  king  and  his  suite,  they  embarked  at 
Honolulu  on  November  17,  1874,  for  San  Francisco,  en  route 
for  Washington,  accompanied  by  Minister  Peirce,  the  invited 


2O  HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

guest  of  the  king.  The  Benicia  arrived  at  San  Francisco  on 
November  28,  after  a  passage  of  eleven  days  from  Honolulu. 
The  royal  party  and  Mr.  Peirce  left  San  Francisco  for  Wash 
ington  on  December  5,  and  reached  the  latter  place  on  De 
cember  12.  At  Washington,  the  king  and  his  suite  and  Mr. 
Peirce  remained  the  guests  of  the  government.  The  arrival 
of  the  Hawaiian  king  was  the  first  visit  of  3  sovereign  to  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Peirce  remained  with  the  royal  party  during  its  stay  of 
several  weeks  in  Washington,  and  accompanied  it  to  New 
York  city,  from  whence  he  visited  his  old  home  in  Boston  in 
advance  of  the  king,  where  a  grand  reception  was  tendered 
the  party.  Mr.  Peirce,  meantime,  on  the  eleventh  of  Janu 
ary,  1875,  arrived  in  Washington,  to  forward  the  political  and 
commercial  relations  of  his  government  with  Hawaii,  partic 
ularly  in  relation  to  the  reciprocity  treaty  of  September  9, 
1876,  news  of  the  signing  of  which  was  received  at  all  ports 
of  the  Hawaiian  kingdom  with  unbounded  enthusiasm.  The 
treaty  has  proven  most  beneficial  to  both  countries.  From 
the  city  of  Washington  Mr.  Peirce  proceeded  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  joined  the  Hawaiian  king  and  party,  and  leaving 
them  after  a  brief  sojourn,  arrived  by  rail  at  San  Fran 
cisco,  on  his  return  to  Honolulu,  on  January  26,  1875,  where 
they  embarked  on  board  of  the  United  States  steamer  Pensa- 
cola  on  February  2,  and  arrived  at  Honolulu  thirteen  days 
later.  On  the  arrival  of  the  royal  party  at  home  a  banquet 
was  given  by  the  king  in  the  garden  of  the  palace,  where  the 
king,  in  recognition  of  the  personal  worth  and  high  services 
rendered  by  Mr.  Peirce  in  promoting  the  political  and  com 
mercial  welfare  of  the  Hawaiian  kingdom,  proceeded  to  in 
vest  him  with  the  high  honor  of  the  order  of  Grand  Com 
mander  of  Kamehameha.  The  official  position  of  Mr.  Peirce 
would  not  permit  his  acceptance;  but  the  king,  still  impressed 
with  his  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  American  minister,  after 
Mr.  Peirce  had  resigned  his  office,  in  October,  1877,  conferred 


HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE.  21 

upon  him  the  order,  which  Mr.  Peirce  then  accepted.  Mr. 
Peirce  remained  at  Honolulu,  discharging  his  high  official 
duties  with  marked  ability  and  satisfaction,  until  October  25, 
1877,  upon  which  day  he  sailed  on  board  the  United  States 
steamer  Jamestown,  for  San  Francisco,  having,  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  June  preceding,  resigned  his  position  as  United 
States  minister  to  Hawaii,  to  take  effect  upon  the  arrival  of 
his  successor. 

The  departure  of  Mr.  Peirce  from  Hawaii  was  the  occasion 
of  widespread  regret  by  the  native  and  foreign  population, 
and  brought  forth  from  every  class  marked  expressions  of  the 
highest  esteem.  The  address  of  the  king  upon  the  occasion 
of  Mr.  Peirce's  withdrawal  as  minister  from  his  court  will 
convey  the  cordial  relations  existing  between  Mr.  Peirce  and 
the  people  and  government  from  which  he  was  separating. 
The  king  said: 

"  Mr.  Peirce:  I  have  received  with  regret  the  information  that 
your  official  duties  as  United  States  minister  resident  in  this  kingdom 
are  now  to  cease  in  consequence  of  your  recall  from  that  mission. 
Your  official  intercourse  with  myself  and  with  my  royal  predecessors 
and  with  the  officers  of  this  government,  during  the  period  of  over 
eight  years  in  which  you  have  held  this  office,  has  been  marked  in  a 
rare  and  most  felicitous  degree,  not  only  with  the  dignity  and  firm 
ness  requisite  in  presenting  your  views  and  those  of  your  govern 
ment  upon  public  and  private  international  matters,  but  with  a 
discretion  and  a  spirit  of  conciliation  and. courtesy  which  has  usually 
prevented  find  always  removed  all  unnecessary  obstacles  to  mutual 
understanding  and  accord.  Your  long  residence  here  in  former 
years  as  one  of  our  leading  merchants,  and  your  personal  acquaint 
ance  with  the  sovereigns,  chiefs,  and  people  of  this  kingdom,  and 
with  the  capabilities  as  well  as  the  wants  of  this  country,  have  not 
failed  to  serve  most  important  ends  in  facilitating  official  intercourse 
during  your  incumbency,  and  in  enabling  you  to  arrive  at  safe  and 
just  conclusions.  If,  as  I  believe,  the  commercial  interests,  not  only 
of  my  subjects  but  of  our  respective  countries,  and  of  all  others 
having  commercial  relations  with  this  kingdom,  or  business  or  prop- 


22  HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PEIRCE. 

erty  connections  here,  are  largely  enhanced  by  the  operation  of  the 
convention  of  reciprocity,  the  re-suit  may  largely  be  attributed  to 
your  intelligent  and  well-directed  efforts  in  promoting  that  compact. 
I  thank  you  for  your  kind  expressions  of  good  \\ishes  for  myself  and 
my  subjects.  Be  assur  d  that  vou  will  alwavs  have  my  sincere 
regard,  and  my  desire  for  your  continued  happiness  and  prosperity. 
You  will  always  have  the  consciousness  of  faithful  performance  of 
public  and  private  duties,  and  the  public  recognition  from  all  who 
have  known  you  here  of  those  qualities  which  deserve  and  bring 
'honor,  love,  and  obedience,  and  troops  of  friends.'  " 

On  October  25,  1877,  Mr.  Peirce  left  Honolulu,  taking  a 
last  farewell  of  the  scenes  of  his  long  and  most  varied  career, 
and  after  a  passage  of  twenty-three  days  on  board  the  James 
town,  on  November  17,  1877,  he  arrived  at  San  Francisco,  on 
his  way  to  his  birthplace  in  Massachusetts  ;  but  the  inclement 
season  in  the  Atlantic  States,  and  the  sudden  change  from 
the  genial  climate  of  Honolulu  to  the  rigid  winter  of  New 
England,  induced  him  to  remain  a  time  in  San  Francisco; 
but,  as  the  most  simple  seeming  circumstances  often  change 
the  whole  current  of  prearranged  plans,  so  in  Mr.  Peirce's 
cases.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  San  Francisco  he  was  at 
tacked  with  a  severe  cold,  which,  threatening  serious  results, 
induced  him  to  seek  until  spring  the  mild  climate  from  which 
he  had  just  departed,  and,  retracing  his  course,  he  set  sail 
for  Honolulu,  where  be  arrived  on  board  the  steamer  Zea- 
landia,  on  January  8,  1^878.  His  voyage  had  completely 
restored  his  health,  and  his  return  opened  up  a  new  and 
unforeseen  event  in  his  career.  Towards  the  close  of  Feb 
ruary  of  the  same  year,  and  just  as  Mr.  Peirce  was  about  to 
return  to  San  Francisco,  King  Kalakaua  appointed  him  min 
ister  of  foreign  affairs  for  the  Hawaiian  kingdom,  upon  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  which  he  entered  on  the  first  day 
of  March,  1878.  Mr.  Peirce's  strong  desire  to  advance  the 
political  and  commercial  interests  of  the  United  States  in 
Hawaii  induced  him  to  accept  the  new  service;  besides,  he 


HENRY   AUGUSTUS   PE1RCE.  23 

strongly  desired  to  enjoy  the  delightful  climate  in  which  he 
had  spent  so  many  years  of  active  life ;  but,  as  in  the  earlier 
career  of  Mr.  Peirce,  events  were  developing  which,  unseen 
by  him,  were  preparing  sudden  and  unexpected  changes,  and 
were  destined  to  sever  his  connection  forever  with  the  people 
and  climate  to  which  he  felt  strong  attachment.  On  the 
thirtieth  of  April,  one  month  after  the  minister  had  entered 
upon  his  duties,  the  Hawaiian  assembly  entered  upon  a  vio 
lent  and  groundless  attack  upon  the  cabinet  ministers  of  the 
kingdom,  and  although  a  "want  of  confidence  "  was  defeated 
by  a  vote  of  seven,  yet  the  king,  to  allay  the  seeming  lack 
of  confidence  in  his  cabinet,  and  to  retain  the  support  of  the 
legislative  branch  of  his  government  for  public  and  private 
appropriations,  sacrificed  his  ministers,  who,  upon  the  request 
of  the  king,  surrendered  their  offices  on  the  first  of  July  fol 
lowing.  Thus  closed,  after  the  brief  period  of  four  months, 
another  eventful  chapter  in  a  most  eventful  life. 

Mr.  Peirce,  impressed  with  the  cowardice  and  bad  faith 
of  the  king  towards  his  deposed  cabinet  officers,  determined 
to  leave  the  islands,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1878,  sailed 
from  Honolulu  for  San  Francisco,  where  he  arrived  on  the 
sixth  of  August  following,  and  soon  after  proceeded  by  rail 
to  his  old  home  in  Boston,  returning  to  San  Francisco  over 
land  in  November  following,  where  Mr.  Peirce  has  established 
his  permanent  home,  and  where  he  has  ever  since  resided. 

Two  children  were  born  to  Mr.  Peirce :  his  daughter  Ella 
Augusta,  born  October  3,  1839,  resides  with  her  husband, 
Frederick  Clapp,  esq.,  at  Greenfield,  Mass.;  his  son,  Henry 
Marcus,  born  November  23,  1846,  while  a  student  at  Harvard 
college,  gave  great  promise  of  future  intellectual  activity; 
but,  in  his  twentieth  year,  the  cloud  of  disease  blighted  the 
bud  of  promise,  and  immured  in  an  asylum  the  father's  hope. 
In  that  sad  event,  in  which  the  curtain  of  oblivion  obscured 
the  reason  of  a  loved  son,  is  recorded  the  saddest  page  in  the 
eventful  life  of  one  of  the  earliest  pioneers  of  the  Pacific 


24  HENRY    AUGUSTUS    PEIRCE. 

coast.  And  now,  with  the  frosts  of  more  than  seventy  years 
whitening  the  locks  of  this  extraordinary  man,  he  looks  out 
upon  the  former  scenes  of  his  earliest  activities  alone,  seek 
ing  in  the  midst  of  crowding  memories  of  the  past,  and 
through  the  deep  shadow  that  excludes  his  darling  son,  the 
approach  of  other  and  more  enduring  shores,  upon  which  to 
voyage  in  the  bosom  of  perpetual  repose. 


1  in  I 


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